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<\/span><\/div>By Paul Alongi,<\/span><\/strong> Clemson University<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>Rachel Getman goes above and beyond for students during the pandemic.<\/h3><\/div>W<\/span>hen COVID-19 swept the globe, Sachi Hilliard cancelled plans to visit family in Japan and began hunting for a way to use her time wisely while waiting out the pandemic in her Los Angeles apartment.<\/p>\nRachel Getman<\/strong> of Clemson University helped save the summer. Hilliard was among 11 interns to go to work in Getman\u2019s lab after watching other plans fall apart because of the virus.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was like a lifesaver,\u201d Hilliard said. \u201cI was able to remain connected to people, and I got to learn a whole new field of chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2020-21 academic year was an extraordinary time in more ways than one for the lab. Not only did the lab host about five times as many interns as usual, Getman was appointed to the Murdoch professorship and two of the lab\u2019s members won awards recognizing their excellence.<\/p>\n
Getman was in a position to help so many interns because all the research her team conducts is computational.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis research can be done from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection,\u201d said Getman, the Murdoch Family Endowed Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.<\/p>\n
David Bruce, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, said the lab\u2019s success underscores that Getman practices what she preaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Getman not only conducts nationally prominent research, she goes above and beyond to mentor high school, undergraduate and graduate students,\u201d he said. \u201cThe laudatory reviews she receives from her students are well-deserved. Dr. Getman has played a leading role in ensuring that the department and the college come out of COVID-19 stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Dr. Getman not only conducts nationally prominent research, she goes above and beyond to mentor high school, undergraduate and graduate students.<\/h2><\/div>David Bruce, Chair \u2014 Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>The research that Getman and her students conduct helps lay the groundwork to create more efficient, more effective and less expensive catalysts. Catalysts accelerate the rate of chemical reactions and are crucial to mass-producing a vast range of products from gasoline and diesel fuel to fertilizer and plastic.<\/p>\n
Much of the group\u2019s work involves creating models of chemical reactions on computers and can be done virtually.<\/p>\n
When the pandemic hit, many experimental labs, where research must be done in person, were no longer able to accept high school and undergraduate interns. That left many unable to work the internships they had been counting on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to take as many as we could from various programs,\u201d Getman said. \u201cSince computational work can be done virtually, at least we could provide the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 11 interns included high school students from the Governor\u2019s School for Science & Mathematics, rising first-year college students from Clemson\u2019s EUREKA! program and students from other universities who were part of a National Science Foundation program called Research Experiences for Undergraduates.<\/p>\n
(Hilliard, who found the opportunity on a website, had recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University.)<\/p>\n
To get to work, the interns had to be brought up to speed. They started working closely with the Getman lab\u2019s four Ph.D. students and two post-doctoral researchers. Each took 1-3 interns and served as mentors, meeting with them regularly over Zoom.<\/p>\n
While graduate students are well positioned to do the hands-on work in research labs, the point of having high school and undergraduate interns is to provide them the experience, even if tasks tend to take them a little longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are training positions,\u201d Getman said. \u201cYou have to teach the methods, what you expect to get in the results and how to analyze, present and communicate results. That\u2019s why these interns want to do the internship in the first place\u2014to garner these skills\u2014and someone has to teach them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>
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